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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Update on the Airplane

It's been almost two weeks since the emergency landing. The airplane continues to reside in an old airplane hangar about 100 yards from the accident site. We're waiting for a rep from our insurance company to come and make their evaluation. From there, we'll start to formulate a plan. Here are a couple ideas brewing at the moment:A) Put aircraft in container; move it to Libreville international airport; do repairs there with a visiting team from the US; find a loaner aircraft to use in the meantime.

B) Put aircraft in container; move it to SIL hangar in Yaounde, Cameroon; do repairs there with a visiting team from the US; find a loaner aircraft to use in the meantime.

C) Put aircraft in container; move it to the US; do repairs there with a crew of supporters; find a loaner aircraft to use in the meantime.

A lot will hinge on the findings of the insurance guy and the decision he makes.

At minimum, we'll be looking at a need of $25,000 to cover our insurance deductible. Please pray that we find these funds quickly.

2 comments:

I'm a pilot and A&P who is also a licensed worker with the C&MA. I've been following your emails and posts with a lot of interest and been praying for you, especially with the recent damage. I noticed that one of your repair options was to ship the plane back to the U.S. I don't know if that is still an option, but I wanted to let you know about the School of Missionary Aviation Technology (SMAT) in Lowell, MI. i was trained at SMAT. The instructor mechanics there take on big projects, like yours, for the cost of parts and use them as a teaching tool for their students. They also have students and recent graduates who may be interested in traveling to Africa to help out with repairs. Their web site is www.smat-aviation.org. I don't know if this is even a possibility for you, but if you're interested, I'd be happy to get you in touch with them. My email is natalie.gittus@bex.net. I'll keep praying for you.Natalie